We Will Learn from History
by itsavolcano
Summary: One fic per episode, but with an AU twist.
1. 1x01, Pilot

I am currently re-watching the series from the start while simultaneously suffering a big dose of writer's block in regard to my original stories. I thought I'd channel some creative energy into a new fanfic. It's definitely AU from the series and will be one ficlet per episode. We'll see how long this works. Join me on this wild and crazy ride!

Unbetaed, all mistakes my own. I am _very_ rusty. I am also having a fit with formatting.

We Will Learn from History

Pilot, 1x01

 _Will learn from history_

 _Better than this_

 _Fate is always pending_

 _("Better Than This"; Ane Brun)_

"You want to tell me what that was about?" Lisbon broke the companionable silence as she and Jane made their way down the hallway to their rooms, having left the rest of the team in the elevator.

"Hmm?" Jane clutched his discarded suit coat in his hand, not bothering to keep it from dragging on the floor and wrinkling further.

"That scene you pulled tonight at the restaurant. With Rigsby and Van Pelt." She paused, waiting for him to take her lead and explain himself, but he only grunted and patted at the small pockets on his unbuttoned vest. He was distracted and she was annoyed. "Jane, why did you pull that scene at the restaurant? Poor Van Pelt has only been with the team a few days and you go and scare her off. Another stunt like that and she'll head straight to HR."

"Meh, she's green but she's hungry. She wants to be here. She wants to prove that she can handle herself in this profession. I'm not sure you've noticed, but the old guard can be kinda sexist." He winked at her as she snorted.

"No, not at all, I've never, in all my years as a woman and a cop, noticed that some men on the force could be difficult to work with." She rolled her eyes and he only smiled more, enjoying her wit.

"Well, Agent Van Pelt looks up to you, it's why she wanted to work with you. You're a strong woman in a male-dominated field." He pulled up short outside her hotel room door. "I've seen you take down men triple your size. It's—if I'm being honest—quite, well, _hot_."

Lisbon looked up sharply, startled for only a second before her eyes narrowed. He continued to stare, continued to grin as she blushed. He knew her blush wasn't from embarrassment. He could tell from the way the small, pink tip of her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip.

"Jane, _why_ did you pull that stunt with team, at dinner?" Lisbon didn't move closer, but he saw in the way her body softly swayed that she was tempted to, that she wanted to close the gap between them. But in the hallway of the hotel, well, that wasn't how it was done. Lucky for both of them, he'd stacked the deck in his favor. He tapped his fingers along his vest pocket again.

"You've been upset at me for a few weeks, since I've been on mandated leave." He took a step closer, pleased when she didn't move away from him.

"So what else is new." It wasn't a question. "Your suspensions— _plural_ —tend to make me look bad as your supervisor."

"Nah, they make me look bad. Everyone knows Agent Teresa Lisbon is an exemplary officer of the law." He moved closer, hoping to disrupt the dour shift in her mood.

"Damn straight," she snapped, albeit half-heartedly.

"You've been upset, and I'd like to make it up to you. Now, don't you want to know what my messing with Rigsby and Van Pelt has to do with our relationship?"

She inhaled sharply at the word 'relationship' and tried to take a step back but he was quicker and held her steady.

"We don't have a relationship."

"Easy, tiger." He didn't drop his hand away from her elbow. "We both know that's not exactly true. Relationships come in all shapes and sizes."

"Fine, tell me." She tilted her chin up, masking the vulnerability she felt at his words. "Why did you mess with them? And what does it have to do with-" She stopped short, and he let her.

"OK, well, the lovely Grace Van Pelt was a little too preachy for my mortal soul's taste. And then Wayne's affection for her got in the way. Ergo, the 'gentle lover' business. It was all harmless fun, I assure you. Let's call it a team-building exercise."

"HR would have a field day with that." Lisbon groaned. "And the second point? What does that have to do with you and me?"

"Oh, well, that." Jane rocked up on his toes. "What do I always say is the key to a good magic trick? A beautiful assistant to serve as misdirection. In this case, Van Pelt and Rigsby were the misdirection."

"The misdirection?" She was dubious. "If that was misdirection, then what was the magic trick?"

He looked at her, his eyes never leaving hers as he leaned down and ghosted his lips along the slope of her cheek. He felt her move closer to him, her fingers clutching at his dress shirt. Without moving away from her, he pulled the keycard out of his front vest pocket and she stopped short.

"That's _my_ keycard."

"Yes it is. Which is helpful, since this is _your_ hotel room." He unlocked door, pulled her inside and slipped the do not disturb sign on the handle before closing it. But before he could do anything else, she had his back against the door and was working on removing his vest and dress shirt. He reached down to help her with her top. Her mouth was hot against his and he swallowed a groan as she nipped his lip.

"Tell me lifting my keycard and getting me into bed isn't the magic trick." Lisbon ran her tongue down his throat before reaching for his belt buckle. "Although, at this point, it doesn't really matter."

"No, the lifting of the keycard was later. Think, Lisbon, think. You're the detective. Review your clues." He teased before he hoisted her up and playfully tossed her on the bed. Then, resting above her, he pressed his open mouth to the sweet, soft spot between her breasts. Her laughter bubbled up in her chest, and he smiled. She'd figured it out.

"You threw them off your scent." She took his head in her hands, bringing him up to meet her eyes. She was flushed with laughter and the promise of sex, and she was beautiful. He pushed down a sudden, sharp pang of guilt. "What better way to make sure no one noticed you getting off the elevator on the wrong floor— _my_ floor—than to wind them up tight with some elaborate hypothetical overture. Oh, you're a piece of work, Patrick Jane."

He climbed over her, his nose brushing against hers.

"I meant what I said earlier, at the morgue. I wanted to make it up to you. Today, as well as the mandated leave."

"Oh." She blinked and for a moment, the air between them grew heavy—both knowing this couldn't last much longer, and wondering how they'd let it get this far. He could remember the first time, months ago. He would remember it until his dying day, but he'd never tell her that. Instead, he would leave her room for his his in the early morning hours, where he'd stay awake watching whatever was on the TV. And tomorrow they'd meet up over breakfast and act as if this never happened—as if it wouldn't happen again.

"Oh, well then," she said, this time there was a challenge in her tone and the cloud around them evaporated. "Get on with it. Make it up to me."

He laughed as he slipped his fingers along the waistband of her pants and pulled them from her body.

FIN

AN 2:

When I first watched The Mentalist, I was convinced Jane and Lisbon were sleeping together. It had something to do with the ways they'd watch each other when the other wasn't looking. Of course I realized my assumption was wrong by episode 1x09 but I thought I'd play around with that idea here, and now that the show is all wrapped up and happily every after.


	2. 1x02, Red Hair & Silver Tape

Thank you to all who have favorited/followed and reviewed. I appreciate it! This endeavor is proving to be more challenging than I anticipated but I'm still going! :)

We Will Learn from History

Red Hair & Silver Tape, 1x02

 _"Don't fret. I wouldn't seduce you over a meal. That'd be very sophomoric."_

 _"I didn't think you were trying to seduce me."_

 _"Come on, how could that thought not have entered your head. –Your denial that it did intrigues me."_

She doesn't think he'd seduce her over a meal. She knows he'd seduce her over a meal. If she were a different woman, she'd let him. But they are who they are, and there's no way she'll ever find herself staring back at Patrick Jane from across a candlelit dinner while drinking expensive wine. What they have is more of a _sneak into her apartment and rip each other's clothes off and then feel guilty about it the next day_ thing.

When they'd first started down this path of mutually beneficial sex, they'd agreed to not feel guilty about it. In fact, that first night, Jane, his lips pressed near the delicate skin of her hip, paused to assure her there were no ghosts in the room with them. And true to his word, he never brought his past to her bed. But despite his best efforts to prove otherwise, he was still human and Lisbon knew he still felt guilty for finding comfort in her arms, just as she tried not to feel guilty every time she caught the glint of moonlight off of his wedding band as he reached for her.

After Melanie O'Keefe's funeral, the team drove back to the CBI and Lisbon retreated to her office. Something about the O'Keefe case had been harder to shake. Diving into the stack of paperwork she'd left under her keyboard for safe keeping, Lisbon let the monotony of crossing t's and dotting i's calm her.

Two hours later, Jane knocked once on the door frame before taking two long strides into the middle of Lisbon's office.

"Oh, good, I was afraid you'd fallen asleep at your desk. Wake up with a stiff neck. Never fun." He paused and looked her over, a faint spark in his eye as he curled and unfurled his long fingers. "Unless you have a friend nearby to soothe your sore muscles."

"What do you want, Jane?" Lisbon wasn't in the mood for Jane's flirting. He gave a brief nod and sat.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"You shot two people. Two bad people, of course, but two people just the same." Jane leaned forward but Lisbon continued to fill out her paperwork.

"Comes with the job, Jane. Besides, they were bad people."

"Yes, but _you_ are a good person, ergo, you feel guilty about it."

Lisbon scoffed and frowned.

"Oh, I was wrong," he tapped the edge of her desk. "You don't feel guilty about that. No, you're upset about something else. About Melanie. Of course."

"Watch it, Jane, or I swear to God—" She stuffed the completed forms into folder and slammed slammed it shut with more force than necessary. Jane straightened.

"I wouldn't. You know me better than that. I would never be flippant over the death of a young girl—"

Lisbon looked up, contrite.

"Look, Jane, there's a reason my door was shut. I'm not very good company right now."

"Meh," he muttered and relaxed back into the chair before throwing one knee over the other. "I've been around worse."

"Gee, thanks." She rolled her eyes, but a bit of her mood began to lift. Jane only shrugged. Truthfully, she was touched that he was checking up on her. She'd lost track of time since they'd returned to the office and she'd skipped lunch. The power bar she'd scarfed down at breakfast was no longer cutting it. Maybe she could convince him to come over and put those hands to use... and to pick up some Italian takeout on the way…

"I'm hungry." She powered down her computer and pressed the off button on the monitor.

"Hmm?"

"Italian sounds good, what you do think?" She hid a smile at Jane's dumbfounded expression as she called in a dinner order large enough for four people. Hanging up her phone and standing, Lisbon caught his eye. "It'll be ready in thirty minutes. You can pick it up."

"Lisbon," Jane started, watching as she slipped on her jacket and grabbed her bag. "Are you planning to seduce me?"

"Over a meal? How very sophomoric." His surprise chuckled suffused her with warmth. It wasn't every day she managed to play him at his own game.

"See you in thirty," he whispered in her ear as she moved past him and headed to the elevator, his hand reaching out to briefly run along her hip. and give it a squeeze. He had clearly regained his footing. "I'll be sure to pick up something sweet on my way."

She tucked her head down to hide her slight blush, but she didn't look back up until the elevator doors closed.

FIN


End file.
